mind. He was on the attack.
He came upon the troll. It was slightly bigger than a giant and covered in dark, mangy fur, with long, pointed ears, and a black hog-like snout. Its chin and chest were matted with slick dark blood, and it held Mort’s leg as if it were the drumstick of some giant bird. Its big brown eyes were eerily human-like, and they stayed glued to Phen’s strange appearance.
“I’m going to distract it,” Phen said to the two soldiers behind him. “Get the other packs, and then get away.”
The creature took a big bite of Mort's thigh. It pulled away from the bone, stretching the bloody meat until it tore. Krey sniffled and sobbed but nodded that he understood his orders. Jicks was already shouldering one of the two packs closest to him.
Once Krey had the final pack, Phen spoke again. “Get well behind me. I’m not sure how this will turn out.”
The troll took another bite out of Mort and curiously studied the stone man with the light hovering over his head. Phen was glad it didn’t seem to care about the other two creeping away with the group’s food and gear.
Phen knew that the dragon tear medallion would amplify his spell’s potency. Just how much, he wasn’t sure. His intent was to wall off the passage with thorny growth. It was a spell he had once used to entangle one of Spike’s giant kindred in a black dragon’s lair. He hadn’t had the dragon’s tear medallion then, and his spell hadn’t created enough growth to block a passage. Now, though, he thought he could do it.
Before the troll could take another bite of their companion, Phen cast his spell and was amazed by what happened next.
From the rocky floor and walls, tiny chips and flakes of stone broke free. Little green worm-like tendrils pushed outward. They turned and twisted and thickened. A season’s worth of growth took place with every passing moment. The branches twisted and twined, and long, finger-sized thorns pushed out of them.
Suddenly, the troll darted at him, reaching out a bloody claw. It never found its mark as it was lifted by the growth that dug into it. It contorted as it squirmed in confusion and fear. It howled out terribly as merciless thorns bit in and held it in place. Phen was alarmed when the growth grew toward the ceiling and started spreading toward him. He had to back up quickly to keep from getting caught in his own tangle. The troll was mewling, its feet and legs splayed at an abstract upward angle. It was bleeding and whimpering between fits of wild shaking as it tried to thrash around, but it couldn’t get free.
Phen hurried back to where Jicks and Krey stood open-mouthed and teary-eyed. A glance back made him mutter a curse. Oarly would have to hack them a way out now, but at least nothing else could come in behind them.
“Oarly,” Hyden’s voice came to them from down the passage. The reverberation off of the stone made it sound as if a dozen people had called out at once. Phen wasn’t alarmed by Hyden’s call. Oarly had probably chased after the creature. It wasn’t until he heard Hyden call out again that his heart sank and his stomach knotted up. The emptiness and hopelessness in Hyden's voice was clear.
“By the gods, no,” Phen said. He took off running, his heavy, stone footfalls pounding back toward the open chamber like hammer blows. Jicks and Krey hurried after him as best they could with the packs they were carrying. They arrived in the fountain chamber to see Hyden holding Phen back in a great bear hug as the stoney boy tried to follow the bloody trail of gore into the darkness.
Corva lay under Telgra and Dostin, who were crouched over him protectively. The elven princess was running her hand over deep wounds and murmuring something. A soft yellow glow radiated from her palm into the elf’s skin. All the while, the distraught monk was repeating a prayer over and over again.
Hyden and the cavern floor beyond him were bright with blood. The double light of both his and Phen’s magical orbs was stark. There was far too much blood for it all to have come from Corva. At the reaches of the illumination, Oarly’s jeweled axe lay glittering and still in a glossy crimson pool.
“NOOO!” Phen screamed into Hyden’s shoulder. “No, no, no!”
Hyden wanted to comfort his young friend, but he was fighting back his own sobs.
“He might not be dead, Hyden,” Phen managed as he pushed away. “I’m going after him.”
Hyden took a deep breath and nodded. He could tell there was no stopping Phen. “Spike is down there somewhere, Phen. Use his eyes. Don’t be foolish. Use his stealth.” To the others he said: “Build an everburn fire. We will be back shortly, and no matter what you do, don’t drink that water.” When he pointed at the fountain, Talon came fluttering down to land on his forearm.
Phen was standing stock-still, looking as much like a statue as he ever had. In his mind’s eye he was seeing what Spike saw. The sight wasn’t normal, but a sort of orange-tinted spectral vision. It was like looking at the world through thick amber lenses. Darkness and light were well separated, though, and the details of things were easy to make out.
The lyna was low to the ground, so it seemed to Phen that he was looking up from a bobbing point just above the floor. Ahead lay empty corridor as far as Spike could see. Behind was the bend in the tunnel, where just beyond, Phen and Hyden stood. With his mind, Phen urged Spike to move further down the passage. He looked back, with his own eyes, and saw that Jicks had ignited a couple of chunks of everburn. Telgra was tending to Corva. Without another thought, he found Spike’s vision again and started into the tunnel.
“Is he around the bend?” Hyden asked. Phen nodded and kept going.
Hyden took a trembling breath and followed. He was stricken by what he had just seen happen to his dwarven companion, but that’s not why he was shaking. A rage was building inside him. Ultimately, all of this madness and death led back to his brother and him, and to the ring. An old soothsayer had once read their bones and foretold their futures. Most of what she had predicted had come to pass. All save for the end of it.
Hyden held no illusions about Oarly’s fate. Far too much blood had been spilled for him to have survived. He still heard the crunch of bone, and the muffled gurgle of Oarly’s yell. His blood was aboil with anger. The oracle had told him that he would some day destroy he who was closest to him. After learning of his brother’s transformation, he thought for a very long time that it was Gerard he would have to end. What is closer to a young man than his brother? Now he saw a different truth to her words. His quest to banish his brother’s evil, and his desire to help his friend and familiar recover from that evil touch, had just killed one of his closest friends. He was so consumed by his rage at Gerard, and maybe himself, that he walked right into Phen.
They were in another open chamber now. It was similar to the first one. A fountain, nearly identical to the other, tinkled and gurgled at the center of the room. Spike stood with an arched back and raised hackles on the retaining wall that encircled the flowing water. Beyond the aquatic display the Gwag lay rasping. A bloody misshapen lump lay a few feet from its mouth in a pool of dark blood.
Oarly.
Phen wailed out in anguish and started toward his friend’s corpse. The Gwag rasped again and a mist of pink, frothy blood sprayed from its mouth. Thicker strands of thickening gore dangled like rope from its open maw as it reared up. There was no continuing passage from this chamber. This was the Gwag’s lair. This was the Leif Repline fountain. The chamber smelled of rot and urine and was littered with the bones of a thousand meals. The Gwag was obviously injured. Several arrows protruded from blood-matted fur around its neck and shoulders.
Talon took flight from Hyden’s shoulder and drew the creature’s attention for a heartbeat. Phen ignored it and stalked over to Oarly. A low, moaning sound came from deep within him as he went.
Hyden nocked an arrow and took aim at the beast’s good eye. It opened its mouth wide and tried to roar. The sound that came was an intimidating spew of bright scarlet. In the back of the creature’s throat, Hyden saw Oarly’s dagger. It was buried to the hilt in the roof of the beast’s mouth. The Gwag was in pain. Hyden’s rage was leaking away because the long, strange-bodied creature had only been doing its duty guarding the fountain. This creature wasn’t responsible for Oarly’s death. Hyden spoke calmingly to it. Whatever spell had bound it to guard the fountain was most likely broken. This was just a scared, dying animal.
A sudden sensation of a heavy burden being lifted from his soul swept over Hyden. He turned to see that Talon had landed on the chin of one of the mermaids and was bathing in the flow it was spitting forth. Hyden could feel Talon’s relief. The lingering effects of the red priest’s spell were being cleansed away from the hawkling like mud.
